Emerald Roses
by Ethomara
Summary: AU. Arthur is a police detective taking care of his obnoxious son. What happens when the next case that slides over his desk ends a little hotter then it started? Francis is a thief and a very smooth one at that but he may have just found his match in the brutish and cunning Englishman. {Perception Universe #1}
1. The Crime

**Emerald Roses**

**So… yeah I wanted to make this a one shot and then got to writing and the point when I hit 1000 words and had no thief mentioned at all I knew this was going to be a chapter story…. Oh well! It just means more FrUK! And a load of others… AmeCan, Spamano, SuFin, GerIta, LuxFar(OC's), DenNor, HongIce, RoChu. Also I am sorry to any people that like Cuba… I don't really, he is just kind of a filler character and I just figured…. No malice meant! **

**BTW… I love the idea of Matt, Yao and Rae(OC) being best friends so Yao is in university and Kiku is older. Britain angel got him.**

* * *

Arthur stared down the paper sitting on his desk. He was torn between buckling down and finishing it or simply crushing it and chucking it at the sorry excuse of a son that sat across from him. Said son glanced up briefly from the DS in his hands and flashed a cheeky grin, his blue eyes sparkling behind his glasses and his perpetual cowlick sticking up as if to show his defiance. The paper in front of him stated that his son was to have an in-school suspension for the next five days. The annoying part was that he couldn't punish the boy for doing something wrong as he himself would have probably have done the same thing.

Alfred had come to his work; well Arthur had had to come pick him up from the school, with bruised knuckles and a letter stating he was suspended. Arthur had been livid. How could a son of his be suspended? He was a god dammed detective and lord knew Alfred was forever going on about how he was going to be a hero. Of course, that lead them right back around to him not being able to blame him. Arthur had given him thirty seconds to explain and Alfred had taken every one of them and then some.

It wasn't news that Alfred was gay; the fact was well stated, mostly by the male himself. So Arthur had assumed that someone had decided to pick on him for it and forgot to calculate in the fact that Alfred was A; Quarterback and B; could bench press about three times his own weight, as impractical as it was. Suffice to say that Arthur was probably going to be paying a hefty fee for the boy's hospital stay.

But no, not even close. Arthur had to be proud of the fact of what Alfred did what he did. Calling him a hero would be farfetched but saying that he did… decent was not. Apparently, an under classman had been being picked on by an upper classman and the upper classman had been intent on torturing the poor boy. Alfred had told him that it had been going on for a while but this is the only time that he had actually seen it. Alfred had just acted on instinct, so the annoyed Britain was told, when the smaller male had tried to run. The upper classman, some Cuban ass that had been giving others grief for years, had gone to hit the younger under classman when Alfred had socked him.

So there they sat. Arthur had actual work to do, actually paperwork to be filling out and actual better things he could be doing. Alfred sure didn't look worried about the situation in the slightest.

"Does this not bother you?" Arthur ground out, breaking the silence that, previously, had only been broken by the sounds of screeching tires and cartoon voices from Alfred's game.

"Not really. The guy deserved it." He grinned up at his father, leveling his gaze with his father's normal glare. "Plus I got to be the hero of the cutest guy in school."

Arthur snorted in amusement, dry as it might have been. "So he called you his hero?"

"Well no…" The smile momentarily fell from Alfred's face before quickly bouncing back. "But he did say thanks and introduced himself." Arthur stared at his son over the glasses perched on his nose. Alfred, usually, couldn't care less about other people so hearing him so excited over learning a simple name set off alarms in his head.

"So being in an in-school for a week was worth meeting your crush?" Arthur deadpanned and Alfred flushed, suddenly busy with the game in his hands. After several moments of silence Arthur let out a sigh that really could have passed for a growl. "The question wasn't rhetorical."

"Uh… yeah." Alfred looked up, his face still sprinkled with pink. "He's Canadian and the... uh… captain of the hockey team."

"Then why can't he take care of himself, last I recalled hockey was not a gentle sport."

"He's… very… quiet. He is shy."

"Then how is he captain of the hockey team?"

"He just doesn't like violence!"

"Then why does he play hockey?"

"He's passive aggressive!"

Arthur sat back in his chair, watching his now red faced and annoyed son. He couldn't recall a time when Alfred had fought for someone so vigorously. It was rather amusing to say the least but also a little disconcerting.

The two lapsed into silence as Alfred went back to his game, his shoulders relaxing as he calmed down. Arthur dove into the paperwork, scratching his signature on the paper. He had been half way through the date when the silence was broken by a loud; _"The red and white flag, keep it high, keep it visual. People say Canada and get stereotypical, think we fini-"_ Alfred dove for his phone, which his father had confiscated and set on the desk. Flipping it open he broke into a huge grin, fingers flying over the keyboard of his phone.

"Really?" Arthur scowled at his son, searching for whiteout as the loud disruption had caused him to jump and run the pen over the page.

"It fits." Alfred mumbled not looking up from his phone. The boy's phone went off again and he jumped to his feet, rushing to the door and throwing it open with a, "See ya later at home, dad!" He pretty much ran over the blonde beyond the doorway. Said blonde scowled and moved out of the others way. Sighing Arthur bid the almost trampled blonde in.

Ludwig was a quiet fellow; with slicked back blond hair and piercing blue eyes, Arthur had always preferred to have him with him in an interrogation as just the German man's presence could scare the truth out of them.

Today the German looked particularly ticked off. Usually Arthur would assume that his Italian boyfriend had made him late or something of the sort; the idiot could hardly tie his shoes, he really couldn't fathom how the two ever ended up together. But looking at the German he knew it was much more serious then the little quarks between him and his boyfriend.

"We have another one." Ludwig muttered, placing a folder in Arthur's hand.

"Another?" Arthur grumbled, shifting open the folder and staring at the pictures within in annoyance. There was practically nothing in the folder besides a few pictures and the test run on the single rose that was left at every crime scene. This was the fifth case in two weeks of a robbery at high end jewelers, wine or couture clothing stores. The current thievery however was different as something was left behind, as the store suffered several hundred thousand dollars worth of jewelry that was taken. Previously this thief had stolen from one of the most well-to-do alcohol stores in the whole of the country and there sitting in their crime scene was one of the most expensive bottles of Scotch in the world.

"Is he toying with us?" Ludwig asked staring down at the pictures of the bottle, uncorked and the infamous red rose floating in the liquid.

"It bloody well looks it." Arthur hissed, leafing through the pictures of the spotless crime scene. It bothered him that there was not a thing out of place. Not one fingerprint or piece of hair or any piece of physical evidence, it was… frustrating. To say the least.

"Berwald and Kiku have a board set up in the conference room with all our information so far. They are just waiting for you." Ludwig sighed and ran a hand over his face. Arthur couldn't really blame him. This case had been one of the hardest yet and it was only on its second week. Whoever was doing this must be one greedy bastard.

Sighing himself, Arthur pushed to his feet, grabbing the folder and Alfred's suspension letter. Ludwig preceded him out of his office and into the conference room. Berwald nodded as did Kiku but the latter took note of the letter in Arthur's hand and raised an eyebrow.

Arthur sighed again. "Alfred got himself a week long in-school suspension."

"Ah yes. Im Yong Soo told me that Alfred punched someone bullying Matthew." Kiku nodded. "It knocked the boy unconscious." Arthur sighed, he wasn't really surprised.

"I can't really punish him for it… but…" Arthur scowled at the wall behind Kiku. "Uh…"

Kiku let his thin lips slip into a ghost of a smile. "He used violence for a good deed which is bad but good. Matthew finds it good though." When Arthur sent the smaller Japanese man a confused frown Kiku explained. "Yao and Matthew have been good friends for years. Yao told me to thank you." He bowed slightly before straightening and letting his face fall back into its usually expressionless façade.

Arthur nodded back before turning to the board; pictures were tapped to the white board in separate sections, the board itself left untouched by markers so far, and waiting for him. He didn't bother to ask about physical evidence as he knew there wouldn't be any. This thief, as annoying as it was to admit to himself, was far smarter than leaving a fingerprint around for them to find. They needed something to work with. He sighed, eyes drifting to the latest robbery. Why change now?

Sighing to himself he grabbed the dry erase marker and drew a sharp line from the last one to the one before it, labeling the line; "Scotch", before changing colours and connecting all the other robberies by date. Labeling and dating each crime scene he stepped back looking back to the other three men in the room. Berwald was staring at the insurance claims of the stores, Kiku was staring transfixed at the board as if the board was going to start talking to him and give him all his answers. Turning to Ludwig he found the other blond talking to their newest member of their team.

Lukas looked up, expressionless eyes meeting with Arthur's before nodding and making his way over. Lukas had transferred to the police force three months ago. His lover was possibly the most annoying person in the world. The undercover cop never shut up and could be found drunk six out of seven days of the week. Arthur could never understand how the dark blond haired muscle head managed to be tolerated by the petite platinum blond Norwegian.

"He left us something." Arthur blinked, Ludwig and Lukas now standing before him with a new analysis and photos.

"On purpose?" Arthur asked, a little weary of the answer.

"Yes." Lidwig nodded as the smaller male spoke.

Arthur took the folder and squinted at the pictures, mouth falling open slightly at the evidence before him. Looking up and blinked at the two serious males before. Neither was known for joking and he doubted that they would want to try to pull some kind of joke off. Letting out a growl of frustration he took the pictures from the folder, and with a little more force than necessary, tapped them to the board. There on the stem of the bottle was a perfect lip impression. It was as if the thief had pressed a kiss to the bottle to cause the small almost invisible mark.

"Is he trying to get caught?" Arthur flipped through the analysis. There was viable DNA on the lip impression. "First he makes sure that we know that not only are all these connected but that he is proud that he stole from these stores and now he is ballsy enough to give us DNA?"

"Maybe he knows that we will not be able to match the DNA to anything?" Kiku mumbled.

"M'be he w'nts 'ur 'ttent'on." Berwald spoke up for the first time.

The whole of the room turned to stare at him and he looked back down at papers in front of him. It made sense. Why else would he change up his pattern? He knew that they were now paying full attention to what he was doing and this was a taunt, to see if they were really getting anywhere on the case. Or if they could get anywhere with the case.

The Britain grinned, the buzz from his team fading in the background as he took in the pictures on the board. Well, if it was a game then Arthur guessed that it was time he started to learn the rules.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE END

Dude! This took me forever!


	2. The Kiss

Chapter Two: The Kiss

**Oh wow! So many people seem to like this! This chapter you meet two of my OC's, Luxembourg and Fareo Island! Anyway, please comment and let me know what you think! I love opinions! Oh yeah… Mathias is Denmark, Emil is Iceland and Lukas is Norway. Next chapter isn't really a chapter but an "Aside", it's just a side story. It may deal with Alfred or Francis or any of the other characters. Nice cute surprises that probably won't contribute to the plot.**

* * *

"Norge!"

More than Arthur jumped at the sudden intrusions to their quiet musings. For the last several hours all they had managed to accomplish was rewrite everything they knew and rearranging it and then repeat the two steps.

The Norwegian glanced up and then back down, ignoring the obnoxious male and carrying on observing the pictures in his hands. Arthur wished that Lukas would just take the blond buffoon and leave but they all knew that before that there was a procedure to follow. Mathias, Lukas's boyfriend, looked over at Berwald who was glaring back at him and wandered towards Lukas, stealing the pen tucked behind his ear. Mathias could have just left it there but it wasn't his style. Instead he chucked it at the Swedish man's head, missing horribly it bounced onto Ludwig's desk.

The look that Berwald and Ludwig sent to Mathias would have scared any normal human shitless but Mathias just continued to grin obliviously. Arthur decided that, at that it was time to go. When Berwald stood up for himself he could be scarier than Ludwig. Either way he knew what would happen next and the noise that would ensue. Pushing from his desk he started for the door, listening as Mathias started to blabber on to Lukas. As Arthur made it to the door of the station he could hear the fight break out and still hear the cursing of the Danish man even after the door closed behind him. Taking a deep breath of the cool autumn air to calm himself he headed to his car.

Arthur stood staring at the hood of his car, trying not to hiss in annoyance at the little paper sticking to it. He guessed it was a note about some ding that someone caused to his car and Arthur did not have the patients to deal with that right now. He would leave it for later when he could deal with a female; the message was written in pink ink and had such beautiful scripture that it was clearly female.

Climbing into the car he slipped out his cell phone and, for the first time in the day, turned it on. Arthur had always hated being disrupted by beeping cell phones. Usually there would only be six or so messages but today there were a few more. All from Alfred. Most were updates from him about where he was. Covering his ass because he knew Arthur never had his phone turned on and hated to be surprised.

The ride to his house was not a long trek but with traffic it could take several more minutes than need be. Today it was a quick trip as it was so late at night… okay it wasn't late, nine o'clock at the latest but the roads were still pretty empty. Pulling into the driveway he could see the living room light on and several shadows on the walls. Great, it seems Alfred had decided to have friends over. Closing the door a little harder than necessary he jumped at the sound of his phone. Ah, there it was, the text from Alfred about him having friends over. Probably a few hours late.

Pushing open the door to the house he could hear several different voices float out from the living room. Nearing it he peeked in, standing in the doorway. Seven people sat in a circle in the room; two of which he had no clue who they were. A silver haired male was on his hands and knees in a heated debate with the two males he didn't know. His burgundy eyes flashed with annoyance. He flipped his hair back over his shoulder, the ponytail long enough to touch the middle of his back.

"What was that you fucktard? I would not be Lucy! I would be…" a glance back to the blonde behind him. Ludwig's little brother. "A-am… monogamous!" Huh… Arthur never knew that Rafaille, Lukas's youngest sibling, even knew that much English to curse. "I would sure as hell not be some dirty sl-" Rafaille's face sudden went scarlet as he met Arthur's eyes. Whatever he was saying dried up in his throat and he pretty much scrambled backwards to sit down again. "I-I am so sorry!" He sputtered. Arthur couldn't help to be amused. He had known that Rafaille had a thing for respect but he had no clue the boy would be embarrassed to be caught cursing. "I know it's probably not enough and I didn't mean to offend you-"

Alfred cut the flustered male off with a laugh. "It's okay Rae; he says a lot worse than that on an hourly basis." Arthur rolled his eyes but nodded.

"I don't know." The dark haired male, sitting next to Rafaille, was leaning against the couch where Vash and Emil sat talking quietly while still watching the other five on the floor. "He might just be saying that and will tell Lukas."

Rafaille hissed something at the other before glancing back at Arthur who shook his head. Alfred, who had taken to flirting with the blond male beside him, looked up and stood after said blond elbowed him in the gut. "Right, sorry Mattie." Alfred grinned down at the blond who was blushing and staring over at Rafaille and the dark haired male who were in a quiet debate. "So dad," Alfred called Arthur's attention back to him. "This is Mattie." He waved at the blond boy beside him. Arthur took in the meek boy before him, blond wavy hair and bright violet eyes. He looked like Alfred to be honest. So this was the boy that Alfred got himself suspended for, if the way Alfred was acting was any indication.

"Matthew." His voice wasn't as meek as his appearance but he was soft spoken. Arthur nodded and gave the poor boy a small smile which was hesitantly returned.

Alfred grinned and waved a hand towards the others in the room. "You know Emil and Rae, Lukas's little brothers." Both glanced up from their conversations and Rafaille waved rather happily and Emil just nodded. "Vash is our neighbor he's in university as is Yao." The dark haired male, Yao, glanced up and waved with a smile before he turned back to Rafaille. "That," He pointed to Ludwig's blonde brother who didn't glance up from his staring at Rafaille. "Is Kujo. Ludwig's little bro." Arthur nodded to his son before rolling his eyes. Alfred knew he knew these people but Arthur would let him play host for a little while longer.

Saying his goodbyes he made his way to his room. His briefcase felt suddenly far too heavy to have only papers in it. Pulling out the annoyingly perfect pictures of his new crime scene he added them to the board he had on his wall. Two years ago he had done the stereotypical detective thing and brought his work home with him… and it now covered a wall in his room.

Just looking at the pictures and clues again gave him a headache. Rubbing his temples he decided that he needed a drink. Something strong, preferably. At a shriek from downstairs he scowled. Right, he shouldn't be drinking in front of teenagers… especially a fair size amount of them. As bad as it sounded he needed to clear his head in a way that would probably do nothing but muddle his thoughts.

Grabbing his keys he was out of the house with only a quick, don't wait up to Alfred. He assumed that the teenager would know where he would be and that he had his phone. You could hardly call him someone who drank a lot but he was known to enjoy his liquor, as a proper gentleman should. So now he was making his way to his favorite 'pub', he used the term lightly as in the last few years it had changed from a nice pub to a 'club' type scheme. He couldn't force himself to move as it still had the best bourbon in town.

He made it to the pub just before ten. The parking lot was moderately full but actually inside was pact to the gills. He supposed that on a Friday night at ten the bored university students and the adults with a weekend off had to go somewhere to unwind. Sliding onto a free stool he beckoned Sadiq over. Sadiq had been the bar tender at the pub before Arthur had found the place almost ten years ago. Sadiq was an immigrant from Turkey, a loud man that could never be ignored. It was a good trait in a bartender.

"Bourbon on the rocks, right?" Sadiq grinned and turned away. "Looks like a tough day." Sadiq slid the drink in front of him and Arthur nodded to him over the rim of the glass.

"You have no clue." He huffed in annoyance.

"Go the fuck away!" Arthur jumped slightly and scowled down the bar where the second bartender stood. He was pressed as far away from the counter as possible, a bottle in one hand and a rag in the other. Leaning over the bar was a man with chestnut brown hair and bright green eyes that looked a little glassy. This had happened before and Arthur had had to chase the brunet out of the bar… or at least away from the grouchy bartender more than once.

Lovino was not known for his sunny disposition but he was usually rather quiet unless you pissed him off. Even though he was rather young, Lovino was one of the best bartenders Arthur had ever known. The male could mix any drink in record time. It came in rather handy when Arthur was pissed and didn't want to handle how perpetually cheerful Sadiq was and Lovino just mixed the drinks and drifted away until you needed another one.

"Lovi!" The brunet reached over the bar, feet barely touching the ground in his attempt to capture the little Italian. "Love me! Don't run away!"

"Go. The. Fuck. Away!" Enunciating each word, Lovino threw the rag at the brunet, pressing back even further. He didn't have much space left to move in but he seemed determined to escape. "Asshole, I told you to leave me alone!"

Arthur pushed to his feet, downing the last of his bourbon and placing the glass down again. The brunet was pretty much laying on the bar. "Te amo Lovi! ¿Por qué estás tan mala? Ámame! Déjame que te jodan!" Arthur scowled and rolled his eyes. He had no clue what the Spanish moron was going on about but, by the way that Lovino was blushing and his hand gripped the bottle so tight his fingers were red; he figured it wasn't the most polite thing.

"Oi, Spanish ass," The brunet looked up, scowling at Arthur as he retracted himself from the counter. Lovino took the moment to skitter off as far down the bar from the Spanish idiot as possible. "Leave the boy alone."

"Mind your own business." The brunet hissed, hands balling at his sides as the two stared each other down. The air seemed to thicken by the second.

"I may not be on duty but I am still a cop and can arrest you for harassment." Arthur threatened. Not caring whether he legally could or not. He didn't like the ass in the first place so he would feel nothing towards putting the man in jail. Staring each other down the Spanish man broke his gaze, pouting over at Lovino who seemed set on wiping the varnish from the counter top.

"Mi poco de tomate!" The drunken brunet whined. Arthur couldn't help but chuckle at how pitiful the male sounded. Lovino sent the male another glare before blushing again and looking down.

"No es ahora ... más tarde." Lovino hissed back at the male. After a few seconds pause a grin found its way onto the dopey man's face before he waved at the smaller male and stumbled into the crowd. Sneering Arthur turned back to his seat. Beside his fist glass sat another with a different kind of drink then his usual. Blinking he looked up at Lovino who had taken Sadiq's place in front of his spot.

"I didn't order this." Arthur spoken up. Lovino glanced up nodding absently before looking back down at the glass he was drying.

"Yeah. Someone told me to give you order of scotch on them." He looked up and rolled his eyes. "How did they phrase it?" He placed the glass back in its place as Arthur stared at the gold liquid before him. Who would buy him a drink? It was far too tacky and who in their right mind would accept a drink from an anonymous someone, especially one who bought Scotch… but that might just be from the case today, anyway? "… so close to your goal-"

"Wait! Repeat that." Arthur ordered, his gaze meeting with the now annoyed bartender.

"Something along the lines of; a drink for a lovely so close to your goal and yet so far away, yadda yadda yadda, my second gift." Lovino rolled his eyes once again and huffed a sigh. "He was creepy."

"Who was he?" Arthur stood, ready to bolt in the direction Lovino pointed him in.

Shrugging the Italian looked towards the back of the bar, where the bathrooms sat. "I don't know. Some where's around there. He was at the furthest point on the bar when Antonio was here."

"Great." Arthur scowled and was met with a glare from the smaller male.

"I'm not a messenger boy." Lovino hissed spinning away. Turning away from the bar Arthur headed in search of his secret admirer. He had no doubt he was being toyed with now. The scotch was suspicious enough and with the half dictated note from Lovino he had no doubts. The bastard was here and watching him.

After a full twenty minutes of searching and questioning people around the bar he had come to two possible solutions; one, the thief was gone and two, he had already spoken to him and because he had no damn clue what the bloody hell this person looked like he had just thanked him and kept on.

Growling to himself he made his way to the washroom. Intent on clearing the slight fogginess his first drink had caused his tired mind. In the washroom, the water that he splashed on his face was cold, shocking his skin slightly. Flicking his hands out, he let the water fly back into the sink from his hands. He ran his hands over his face again, rubbing at his temples. This day had just been entirely too long. He just wanted it t-

An arm yanked him back sharply, the arm slipping around his waist and one over his eyes. He cursed aloud, fingers pulling at the hands holding him. The arms tightened and he was pulled backwards again, sharply. Stumbling he found his hand splayed out on a stall wall. He cursed again, trying to push away. There was no way he was going to let this day get any worse.

"Get the fuck off!" Arthur hissed, thrashing his head trying to dislodge the hand keeping his attackers identity secret.

"Do not worry, mon lapin." A sugary sweet voice dripped at his ear. " C'est juste un bonjour." The male laughed. "I like to play with my food." Warm lips pressed to Arthur's neck, the Frenchman's breathe causing goose bumps across his skin. Lurching forward Arthur elbowed back into the male and was satisfied with the responded "oof" though he was still not released.

"You… I will-!"

"I don't believe I've ever had someone so devoted to moi." Arthur's captor gave a soft chuckle. Arthur jumped as the other male's tongue ran along the shell of his ear, causing his face to flush despite his horror. "You will what, mon lapin? Kill me? Take me in?" Arthur seethed at the taunting, brain surging to find a way out. To escape the fugitive he had been after. Damn… how had things turned so quickly?

There was a tinkling sound, wind chimes in the wind and his captor sighed. "I am afraid I am not able to stay much longer." The arm around Arthur's waist went slack and he spun, only to have cloth cover his eyes and himself shoved roughly backwards. The lips that had been on his neck, before, suddenly collided with his own. Shock froze him for several seconds before his body responded. Hair tickled his chin and he reached up, intent on pulling the psycho off of him and found his fingers sliding through the silky hair. He found himself yanking at the male's hair, towards him, deeper into the kiss.

The Frenchman eagerly accepted, pressing closer to the smaller blonde as Arthur fought with his body. As the taller male slowly pulled away Arthur found himself missing the contact, whimpering slightly. "Adieu." Came the male's breathy voice at his ear before he was gone and Arthur was left there, stunned and blindfolded.

There was a full thirty seconds of only his heartbeat before it hit what he had just done and what had just happened. Ripping the fabric from his face he glared at his own reflection; at the swollen lips, disheveled clothes and flushed face. Dread sunk through his gut. He had no doubt that the cloth in his hand was a major clue but the prospect of explaining how he got it was not something he wanted to explain to anyone… ever.

He would have to explain.

He would have to go to work.

He would have to investigate.

He would have to remember.

Oh shit.

* * *

CHAPTER TWO END

**I'm not sure about this chapter… the beginning feels weird. :C It feels kinda fillerish but I needed most of the information for later chapters…. Connections are important… Grrr…. Dudes! Follow me on tumblr- kyouryokuwock or ignorance-is-a-fool(My personal one). I post Hetalia pictures… and sometime snippets of my next chapters and ideas I might add to stories.**

**Oh yeah… Disclaimers bother me. It is quite obvious I do not own Hetalia… so this is your disclaimer! (Wish I did though…) Oh and translations… use google translate. I hate losing my place in a story looking at the bottom when you can just open a new tab… and sorry to anyone who truly speaks Spanish as I have probably slaughtered the language... and maybe some French.**


	3. Aside One: The Family

Aside One: The Family

_I am so sorry! I know you guys want to kill me and I probably deserve it but please don't… I plan to go back to my normal every other week updates! So this is the first Aside. I also am creating a whole Universe for you! This is the first installment in the Perception Universe! This chapter is brought to you by Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy- Big and Rich._

* * *

"Dudes, you guys shouldn't talk like that to Mattie!" Alfred's face was slightly pink, or it looked that way to Rafaille. He and Alfred were not the closest but being cousins gave him a slightly better knowledge than normal. Though Rae had never seen his headstrong, annoyance of a cousin blush… ever. It was weird.

Yao looked between the three of them and snorted a laugh. Matthew blinked at Alfred, trying to figure out what Rae had said that might have made Alfred defend him. Rae knew but that was simply from knowing that Alfred would have no clue that what Rae had just said was a compliment.

"I said nothing bad. I was stating that for someone who can flatten someone twice his size and weight he is hardly scary." Pausing he turned slightly to the blonde sitting directly behind him. Kujo, his… 'his' was sitting behind him talking with Vash; a close friend. Kujo ran a hand down Rae's spine, sending shudders through him as he nodded to signify Rae hadn't missed some inconsequential verb or noun in his English. Rae nodded turning back to the other three as the blonde male behind him refused to stop running his fingers over the notches in his back.

"Who says he's not scary?" Alfred defended. Alfred's cheeks puffing slightly in annoyance. Matthew cringed, the light in Rae's eyes making him nervous. Rae had a habit of loving to run in circles around people… especially with words.

"So, right this second you are scared Matt will hurt you?" Rae asked, leaning into the male behind him.

"Well, no. Why would I be?"

"I thought he was scary?"

"He can be."

"But he's not."

"Right!" There was a pause as Alfred almost visibly worked through what Rae had said, "I mean no!"

"So he is scary to you."

"Not to me. To others."

"So then he is scary."

"Right."

"But not to you?"

"…Yes."

"Then, by what you just said, you are the one to say he is not scary, yes?"

Alfred opened his mouth and then closed it again, repeating the step a few times before he turned to Matthew. "My head hurts."

Matthew for his part didn't laugh. Yao did and let loose a bubble of laughter that ended with his head in Rae's lap. Kujo leaned forward slightly. "That wasn't very nice of you."

"I wasn't made to be nice. Kirkland's are never 'nice'."

Kujo gave Rae a peck on the cheek and a muttered 'uhuh' accompanied by an eye roll before returning to his previous conversation.

"So what does that make me?" Alfred asked.

"A Jones…" Rae deadpanned. Matthew choked on his laughter.

"Oh…"

Rae blinked at him for a moment before turning to Matthew. "Yeah… sure…" He rolled his eyes. "Il est brillant."

"C'est juste toi!"

"Non… je suis désole, mais, non." Rae shook his head, a small smirk forming on his face. "Pauvre toi."

"I can't understand!" Alfred pounced at Matthew, hugging him and dragging him onto his lap, the smaller male blushing more than slightly. "Not fair!"

"That was the point." Rae mumbled, watching as Matthew tried to scramble away… with little success.

Yao taking the break in conversation to start his own he turned to Rae. "So how are your English lessons coming along?"

Emil, who had been quiet conversing with Vash and Kujo before spoke up for Rae. "He doesn't understand American culture."

"Well duh!" Rae paused, turning to Alfred. "What is a Cee Lo Green?"

Alfred stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. "He's a singer."

"Wait… it is a person?"

"Yeah… a pop singer."

"I thought pop was a carbonated drink?"

"That too."

Kujo turned fully to Rae wrapped him in a hug, "Pop music is a genre or type of music-"

"I know what genre means." Rae huffed.

"And pop can be substituted with soda."

There was a beet of silence before Rae nodded. "Oh, okay. I understand."

"Is that the same as 'rock' to be used in different way? As in to rock in a chair… and the music rock?"

"Yes." Yao broke in, smiling as Rae nodded.

"And rock out!" Alfred threw in.

Matthew, who had managed to escape, smiled as well. "That goes with the music rock. To rock out is to party or let loose to the music."

"Let loose?" Rae grumbled, now annoyed with the sudden onslaught of English sayings.

"To relax and enjoy yourself." Yao finished. Rae huffed and crossed his arms.

"Are we even allowed to be here?" Rae asked as an attempt to pull the focus to something else.

"Yeah, sure!" Alfred grinned, phone suddenly in his hand. "Told dad."

"You might want to introduce the people he doesn't know." Matthew muttered, looking anywhere but Alfred.

"Of course." Alfred did blush this time and Rae could see it plain as day. Cute. But Rae was the youngest. Should he finnd something his seniors did cute? He supposed there was nothing against it.

Rae was struck with how weird it was to truly have this group together in one place. Vash and Kujo had been friends for a few years now and Emil was Rae's brother so nothing was weird with that… only that the two pairs were together. As well as the other three with them. Alfred had bombarded the trio of friends; Rae, Yao and Matt just after he had stopped the boy who had been bullying Matt. Kujo was a sure bet to come but it had surprised him when Vash and Emil wanted to join them as well, considering that Vash could have spent his night with his stick-up-the-ass boyfriend and little sister or that Emil could be reading somewhere or with his boyfriend in their mutual silence…

It was weird.

Turning his head he came face to face with Alfred. With a yelp he fell backwards. Alfred continued anyway. "So we were talking about musicals and really I haven't seen many so we were talking about Avenue Q-"

"Avenue Q? Why?"

"'Cause it's funny!" Alfred grinned. "Anyway we thought that you might be Lucy." Yao and Matthew both bit down on their lips to keep from laughing, knowing the explosive reaction to come. Rae was a Kirkland after all and none of the family they had met ever had a fair temper.

Lunging forward he started in on Alfred, fingers digging into the carpet as he glared. His burgundy eyes flashing with annoyance. He flipped his silver hair back over his shoulder, his ponytail long enough to touch the middle of his back. "What was that you fucktard? I would not be Lucy! I would be…" a glance back to Kujo behind him. "A-am… monogamous!" He flushed but continued. "I would sure as hell not be some dirty sl-" He glanced over Alfred's shoulder for a moment and the words froze in his throat.

Oh shit! His uncle stood in the doorway; suit pressed and clean, green eyes glowing with what looked like amusement and mused hair the same light blonde as always. Scrambling backwards he sat down at Kujo's feet to try to hide his foul language. He cringed; worried that he would be scolded for knowing curses more completely than correct grammar. "I-I am so sorry! I know it's probably not enough and I didn't mean to offend you-"

He could have killed Alfred when he cut in, a dismissive way to Rae and a carefree laugh. "It's okay Rae; he says a lot worse than that on an hourly basis." Arthur rolled his eyes but nodded.

"I don't know…" Yao pulled his attention, taunting Rae about telling his brother. Well… other brother. Emil was his older brother but not his oldest brother. They were weird, both so quiet and reserved… not much transferred to Rae, even if he spent several years being raise by just them… and his brothers annoying partner. Maybe that was where he picked it up. Mathias was never quiet. Either way Yao pulled him into a heated discussion about how Lukas was to be left out of this.

At his name he glanced up and smiled out of habit and was back to fighting with Yao as Arthur took his leave.

"Okay you two." Matthew smiled, tapping both Yao and Rae on the forehead. "Enough bickering."

"Let's talk about music!" Alfred chirped.

The rest of the group shrugged and nodded.

"I learned that I like country music." Rae mused and Kujo gave a chuckle. "It makes more sense than 'pop' music."

"At least you know what country music is." Yao sneered.

"I could only imagine you with alternative." Matthew snickered.

Rae glared at them, looking more than a bit confused. "I think I will stick to country." He muttered.

"Save a horse, ride a cowboy." Alfred blurted as he grinned at the three males that had taken time out of their argument to look over at the American male.

"I… don't see the connection." Rae looked to Matthew whose face was a rather pretty shade of red. "How do the two interconnect?" Yao swallowed a giggle with the help of an elbow from Matthew. "I don't see how you could transport yourself using a… what was it called? Cowboy?"

Alfred stared at the teen blankly for a moment before bursting out laughing, spurring laughter from the other five people in the room. "Cous, is your English really that bad?"

Kujo wrapped an arm around the silver haired male and pulled him onto his lap. "Not bad… just untaught." He snorted in amusement, burying his face in Rae's neck. "That… is just not average vocabulary." There was a pause before Kujo raised his head and Matthew took to laughing. Yao hesitated, unsure of what the look meant. "I could teach you the meaning." Kujo whispered into Rae's ear, his hands sliding under Rae's shirt, forcing a shriek and a sharp movement from the male. Rae was across the room and behind Yao and Matthew before Kujo could pull the shirt over his head.

"I fucking older than you! Leave alone!"

"Opera singer!" Alfred chimed as Rae's voice rose in pitch.

"Grammar." Matthew added to Alfred.

Rae spit curses in several tongues at them. It was something he was good at. Rae had made a reputation for himself with languages. He worked to keep his languages growing. He could speak several now and he was proud of them. If he could do nothing and be known for nothing else than at least he could be known for his people skills. His native language was Scottish Gaelic as that was where we was raised and where his father was from but he had soon learned French and German… German before French because… well because he had a reason. From there he had picked up Italian and Spanish. He was working on Norwegian currently… as well as his never ending battle with English. In a way he made the perfect foreigner for an English speaking country, which he happened to live in.

It was twenty minutes later when they finally got to move onto to something else; picking out movies.

"So… we truly are staying over?" Matthew asked slowly as Rae flipped through a binder filled with movies.

"Why do you have so many horror movies when they scare shitless?" Rae mumbled.

"You forgot the pronoun." Kujo's voice was muffled by Rae's shoulder.

"You…"

"Better."

"Yeah you guys are staying!" Alfred responded to Matthew before turning to his cousin, "Dad likes 'em." He stared, slightly worried. Knowing his cousin he would pick a horror movie. He just hoped he was in a good mood.

"Picked the movie." Rae stood, much to Kujo's annoyance. Kujo made a whine in the back of his throat and Rae kicked him, lightly but, hard enough to make him fall onto his back with another childish whimper.

"I'm leaving." Emil stood, followed by Vash.

"Me as well." Vash echoed. He was almost at the door before he turned back to Rae. "Your boyfriend is pathetic."

"Yeah, I know, I tend to do that to people."

Vash rolled his eyes with a smirk and a wave to Kujo.

"So what movie?" Yao asked, looking more than a little bored.

"PA4."

"What?"

"Paranormal Activity 4."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I like it."

"Rae likes the pretty lights… as he tries to memorize all the words he doesn't know… like X-Box." Kujo grinned.

"Well why the fuck would you label a game system X-box? It seems stupid. Just name it _game system number… whatever_." There was a silence. "And why the fuck is there an X-box and an x-Box 360? Why the fuck does a degree matter?"

None could really answer that. They were too busy laughing… or in Kujo's case, avoiding remotes than were thrown his way.

They were half way through the movie before anyone stirred. There was a slow beat before; "_I am the mastermind, leaving you all behind, and that ain't no fucking lie…"_ Rae was up and out of the room with his cellphone before the next jump scare.

His voice was clipped, speaking quickly and quietly in Gaelic, "Why does this pertain to me?" He grumbled, rocking on his heels to look into the room where Kujo sat, clutching a pillow to his chest. A whisper was his answering reply. "Oh… I understand." He rubbed his thumb and forefinger against either side of his nose. "I refuse to go to them though…" Another quiet reply. "Whatever. I get it. Leave it to me."

* * *

_Alrighty! That concludes our first Aside. I will be posting a new chapter in a day or so. I want this story done fairly quickly so I can start to piece together the universe. _

_This story is the first piece in the proverbial Universe puzzle. _

_Meggy loves you all and reviews are loved(especially about what you think of Rae and Kujo) and questions on clarity (not on plot! I don't want to share my plot right now...)are very welcome!_


	4. The Revenge

Chapter Three

_Sooo! Another chapter! More romantic(if you squint)… yuck… but action! Any who. Any questions, I would love to answer, and your thoughts on Rae and Kujo would be loved… or just comments in general. Um… You will understand the need for the last chapter… umm… in the third Aside. I love you all! This chapter is brought to you by the song One More Night- Maroon 5. I am a huge fan of them so… yeah… I have all four of their CD's…_

* * *

Arthur growled at his reflection and the bathroom door slammed in his wake. He stormed to the bar where things had quieted down. Sadiq was nowhere to be seen but Lovino looked up as he sensed the blonde male approaching. Lovino scanned the blonde police man, his face a blank mask of indifference.

"He escape?" Lovino deadpanned, wiping the rim of the glass in his hand.

"Yes." Arthur grumbled, running a hand through his hair. He shuddered at the thought that only a few minutes ago his fugitive had done the same thing.

"I figured. He dropped by the bar." Lovino looked up, watching Arthur's face as it twisted into a mask of fury.

"And you let him leave?!" He screeched.

"What was I to do?" Lovino scowled back. "Jump over the bar and do a citizen's arrest on him?" He gave a snort before reaching under the bar and throwing a small folded pink piece of paper on the counter.

Arthur gaped at the piece of paper for a few seconds before he was scrambling to pull the previous piece of pink paper from his pocket. Both pieces were small and the script was elegant, a calligraphy of sorts. He opened the one he had found on his car first.

"Bon soir mon petit lapin,

I would like to issue a challenge to catch me if you can.

Avec amour,"

The note was signed with a lip print. The paper was closer to card stock than anything else and so the paper gave way and made the lips look as though they were printed directly on the page. He knew who's DNA it would be, the same as the one on the neck of the bottle of Scotch … and on his neck.

He tore open the second note, the one Lovino so graciously delivered. With a huff he glared at the page. As the words focused he struggled to breathe. There was no salutation to this one.

"Is it personal yet?"

Again signed with a kiss.

Arthur took another look at Lovino who looked indifferent, though Arthur knew that Lovino had known the man. The petty bastard, not wanting to get involved in the investigation. He turned on his heels, storming out of the bar. He would compare the two when he got home.

Driving home, however, proved to be quite difficult. With his head swimming with French bastards, little pink notes and a little alcohol he almost managed a nice crash a few times. Maybe he should have called a cab… but there was no time for that. He had to get moving. It was late and he didn't expect Alfred to be awake but what he did not expect was the car in the driveway. Was someone there?

Arthur huffed, slamming the door behind him. The pink notes burned a hole in his pocket, a silent reminder of the French man he was hunting. Arthur was seeing red, damn straight it was personal now. He was going to catch the bastard and shove him in a jail cell with his own two hands.

The house was dark; the only sound was quiet voices from the TV. There was a sudden increase in the beat of the music. It built to an almost drastic tone, and then a scream, a slow release of breath from someone in the room was heard just following. Walking past he turned to face the room. Four bodies lay on the ground, curled up asleep. Alfred was curled around the boy Matthew. Kujo had fallen asleep, clutching Rae's hand, his head resting on his lap. Yao was sleeping on Rae as well, using his leg as a pillow. Rae blinked, eyes moving from the horror movie on the screen to look at Arthur. His eyes glowed crimson in the dark light. Crimson eyes bore into his green ones, almost smoldering, with a dangerous glint that forced Arthur to see the side of Rae that screamed Alistaire, Arthur's brother.

"Be careful. Playing with fire will only get you a burn." Rae's accent was think, rich and Scottish as he didn't even try to repress it.

Arthur snorted a nervous laugh, running his hand through his hair. "Did that come from a fortune cookie?"

"Being driven does not mean to be stupid."

"I'm not going to do something stupid." Arthur hissed, meeting the glacial crimson gaze.

"You make cases your own," Rae turned to stare down at Kujo, "Don't lose sight of your end goal."

"I'm going to get this fucker."

Rae gave him a rueful smile, running a hand through Kujo's hair. "Be careful what you wish for."

More than a little flustered Arthur turned and stormed up the stairs. His teenage cousin had no right to give him advice. It might be foolish but Arthur was not in over his head, he knew what he was doing and he was going to get this bastard. He stared at his wall, the evidence he had gathered scattered across it. Yarn marked one case to the next. Pulling out the notes he stuck them to his wall, the tacks driving in with more force than needed. No one was going to make a fool of him, Arthur was going to make sure of that, he would get this French bastard and make sure that he got his revenge for the kiss.

Next morning proceeded as normal, mostly. The teenagers were asleep when he left; Rae had fallen asleep where he was, leaning against the couch. Eyes closed and completely still, Arthur marveled at how well Rafaille could play dead in his sleep. He wondered if it was something taught or simply something that Rae had been 'blessed' with.

.

.

.

Ludwig was sitting at his desk when Arthur entered; there was almost an electric air between Arthur and Ludwig as they made eye contact. Arthur cringed, slightly worried that he had been found out, that the Frog; it was easier than French bastard, had told them what had happened between them.

"He struck again." Ludwig's voice pulled Arthur from his thoughts, causing the latter to gawk slightly. He was speeding up his time line, again?

"What was it this time?" Arthur asked, irritable.

"Zeklos… Baduna Zeklos has reported a family heirloom stolen, the families crest."

Arthur froze. Could he really be that much of an idiot? Ludwig could do nothing as he watched Arthur's face. It went from disgust to rage to horror. His face bleached white, leaving no colour. Zeklos… Arthur wasn't stupid, he knew how this was going to go. This case was going to be hanging over his head now. The family would be watching him from now on to make sure everything was perfect and that they got what they lost back… that or they would take the head of the thief.

"Baduna Zeklos the mafia boss?" Ludwig hesitated a second before nodding. "I see, he has that much balls does he?" Laughter bubbled up and suddenly Arthur could not contain it. The idiot wanted to kill himself? Let him!

"He left something else though." Ludwig's voice was slow, almost reluctant.

When Arthur glanced up, Ludwig looked away. "What?" Arthur snapped; the laughter dead in his throat and replaced by his heart.

"Your… wallet."

"My what?!" Arthur started patting at his pants; pulling out the black wallet there he flipped it open. Inside sat another pink note. Throwing the wallet at the ground he fought to open the note. His gaze swam; his face heating.

"Mon petite lapin,

I think I would like to borrow this from you, as well as your shield.

Avec l'amour,"

The signature lip mark sat there, a taunt that Arthur could not return.

"How did he get it?" Ludwig asked slowly, testing the waters for a reaction.

"I don't know." That was a big lie. It was quite obvious when he had taken the wallet but like hell he was going to fucking tell Ludwig that. Arthur released a sigh, shoulders slumping as he tried to process his thoughts. "Ludwig…" He glanced up at the other male. "I think I need to speak with your Vargas'."

Ludwig didn't blink; he gave a low sigh and nodded. Picking up the phone he was soon whispering into the receiver.

Twenty minutes later Arthur found himself seated in a cute little café, the kind that sell those weird coffee drinks at insanely high prices but are too comfy to refuse. Arthur gave a petulant sigh, cut off as something collided with his back.

"Ciao, Arthur! It's been too long! I missed you! How is everyone? We haven't gotten to see anyone in a long time!" Arthur pried the chatty Italian off of his back. Bouncing into his seat, Feliciano continued to chat to himself, keeping up a two way conversation.

Arthur stared at the boy in amazement and wondered how Ludwig could stand him. He was sure he would have killed him already. Of course, most of what Feliciano did was for show. He was not stupid, by any means, simply cheerful. People drew lines too quickly and Feliciano had simply taken advantage of it. "So what can I do for you today?"

"Who is my thief and where can I find him?" Arthur dropped it right in front of the youngest Italian.

"Roma didn't tell you?" Feliciano cocked his head to the side, innocence on every feature.

"No, and I know why. He did not want to be dragged into this but now my crook has done something insanely stupid."

"Your crook?" Arthur could feel his face heat.

"He stole the family crest of Zeklos."

"…Really?" When Arthur nodded Feliciano laughed, "Yeah, he did do something stupid." He titled his head. "Have you made sure that _he_ knows?"

Arthur sighed, rubbing at his temples. "He knew before I did."

"Ah… so why are you suddenly interested in cheating to get him, then?" Arthur scowled at the nosy boy but he was all rainbow and smiles, the amusement dancing in his eyes.

"He stole my wallet and left it there for Zeklos."

Feliciano sat there for a moment, mask gone, disbelief and then slight horror flashing across his face. "Mio dio… I understand." Pausing for a moment he pulled out his phone. The Italian flipped through a few screens before he came to rest on a photo. "This him?"

"I didn't actually get to see his face…" Arthur squinted at the photo. Scanning it he nodded, pulling the blue silk ribbon from his pocket. "Yes… that is him." He looked back down at the photo where the ribbon sparkled in the crooks blonde hair.

"Ah… si. Francis Bonnefoy. French master thief; recently appeared on the larger scale radars."

"Address?"

"Hotel name and number?" When Arthur nodded Feliciano produced a pen and a napkin. Scribbling down the address he turned it back over to Arthur. "Keep safe." Arthur nodded. Feliciano gave him one last angelic smile before he was up and gliding out of the café, waving at the waitress who looked a little flustered by his attention. Arthur sat there at the stupid table. Weeks he had been searching and just like that he had his perp. He almost wanted to wad the paper up, to throw it out and be blissfully oblivious. Move on to the next case when the Zeklos killed the thief off. It was almost not fair… though he supposed he hadn't become a detective for it to be easy.

Twenty minutes later he was loitering in the lobby of the hotel address he had been given. Hands in his pockets, scowl scaring off anyone who got too close. He paced at the desk; he knew the woman there would not give him the room number. If he had his police badge it would be different but since the fucker he was tracking had it, that was out of the question.

With a sigh of frustration he pushed through a stairway, on his way down. He made it a single floor below the surface of the parking garage before he literally ran into his thief. There was a moment of stunned silence between the two in the deserted staircase before Arthur grabbed the front of Francis's shirt, slamming him back into the wall. Arthur's fist flew up, a thud as it made contact with the other males gut.

"Why the fuck would you do that?" Arthur hissed into the other male's ear, holding him up as Francis tried to catch his breath. "Do you have any idea of what you have just done?"

Francis responded with a punch of his own, hitting Arthur in the gut as well and sending him reeling. "I have made it interessant."

Arthur grabbed the Frenchman's collar. "You have just put a target on both our backs!"

Francis shoved the Englishman, throwing another punch that landed against his jaw. "It makes life a little fun, mon lapin." He grinned, a true fox in the hen house. His next two punches missed. Arthur on the other hand landed another that pushed Francis against the railing.

"The only thing it will do is get you killed!" Arthur spat, as Francis stepped forward Arthur threw a knee into the other males stomache. Grabbing his hands he twisted until Francis was on his knees, snapping handcuffs onto his wrists Arthur let go of the male.

Francis sat back against the railing, looking a little pale but none the less confident. He gave a smirk and Arthur kicked him in the ribs… for good measure. "What now?" Francis asked, coughing into his shoulder, his voice raspy. "Turn me in?"

"I thought I might." Arthur growled, rubbing at his knuckles.

"Hmm. You won't do that." Francis grinned, watching as Arthur started wringing his hands to keep from whacking the Frenchman.

"And why not?"

"Because you need me now."

"Yeah?"

"Oui, I know where the Crest is… and your badge, I might add."

Arthur ground his teeth, forcing himself not to take the bait.

"The truth only bleeds red, mon lapin." Francis tilted his head innocently. "You need me and turning me in will only get me killed."

"Maybe that's what I want." Arthur huffed under his breath causing a light to sparkle in the Frenchman's eyes.

"Awww… such a naughty detective you are, wanting a suspect dead." He grinned as Arthur flushed. "Of course that is only if you truly have the guts." Francis raised an eyebrow. Arthur grabbed him by the collar, hauling the male up and pushing him against the railing.

"I could push you over this and watch you go splat on the concrete below." Arthur hissed.

"..splat? Mon lapin, you can do better than that." Francis pressed on a smile, his heart beating a little faster as the detective pushed his even further backwards over the railing. He had lost his train of thought during his poking at Arthur; he needed to get the policeman on his side… even if pushing the grumpy Englishman's buttons was fun. His voice was rushed. "Remember if I die and you can't please the Zeklos' you will be the one paying for it; as you let me die."

Arthur lessoned his grip on the male, taking a step away. "And if I were to take you in, you would be tortured and killed by them… and I would be no lesser the detective."

"Are you sure? With your family?" Francis snapped back. Oh, merde. Francis felt his face bleach white, watching as Arthur's mildly annoyed expression turn truly dangerous. Arthur grabbed Francis by the throat, emerald eyes glowing with a dark fire.

"What the fuck is your real reason for this?"

"I don't particularly want to die and you don't want to drag your family into this, oui?"

"That… that is not possible." Arthur hesitated before releasing the Frenchman. Francis backed away, wishing he could reach his throat… or that his hands were free for that matter. Arthur ran a hand over his face. "Zeklos… why the fuck the Zeklos?" Arthur growled to the male on the ground.

"They were the only ones I could get too." Francis answered simply.

Arthur made a strangled growl and spun on his heels. "Fuck… fuck,fuck,fuck!" He ran a hand through his hair. This was going to be messy. With another growl he pulled out his cell phone.

After two rings there was a rest and then a soft, "Haló?"

"I… need a favor."

There was a soft sigh from the other side of the line. "Yes, I know. Five hours… give me that and meet me at our park." There was a hiss in the background that sounded suspiciously like a laugh before the line was dead.

"Thanks…" Arthur muttered to the dead line. Tucking the phone into his pocket he turned to look at the slightly confused Frenchman on the floor. "You are so fucking lucky right now." Turning he started up the steps.

"Ah! Tu peux pas laisse moi ici!"

"Sure I can." He turned when he reached the doorway. "Have fun." Arthur turned and pushed open the door, leaving the Frenchman to curse after him.

* * *

_This Chapter… It took me forever to write… it took me two days to write the last 500 words alone! -_-_

_You guys have no sweet clue where I am leading with this… I hope X33 I hope to make it surprising. I dislike clichéd stories where I can guess the ending… though that is a little unfair as I make a really bad habit of guessing the whole plot ten minutes into a movie… ugh…_

_Anyway… Rae is raised Scottish so his accent if Scottish. Kujo has a German accent as he was raised on the German side of Luxembourg(well not side but you understand)_


End file.
